schiller-wine: Running into Marco Balsimelli, Production Director, Ornellaia and Masseto, at Osteria Magona, Bolgheri, Tuscany - Wine Country Italy (Lake Como, Tuscany, Alto Adige) in 2025

Friday, August 1, 2025

Running into Marco Balsimelli, Production Director, Ornellaia and Masseto, at Osteria Magona, Bolgheri, Tuscany - Wine Country Italy (Lake Como, Tuscany, Alto Adige) in 2025

From June 16 to July 3, 2025, Annette and I spent time in wine country Italy, by car.

For an overview of the whole trip. go here: Wine Country Italy - Lake Como, Tuscany, Alto Adige - in the Summer of 2025

Second Stop: Bolgheri (Tuscany)

This was an organized group tour, led by wine journalist Giuseppe Lauria. We spent 4 nights in Bolgheri.

Day 2 in Bolgheri

We began the day with a visit of Tenuta Argentiera, comprising a winery tour and a tasting.

See: Winery Tour and Tasting at Tenuta Argentiera, Bolgheri, Tuscany - Wine Country Italy (Lake Como, Tuscany, Alto Adige) in 2025

For lunch we went to Osteria Magona. which has a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide.

See: Dining and Wining where the Royals Eat: Dario Cecchini’s Solo Cicca Restaurant in Panzano – the Butcher of Chianti Classico

During lunch at Osteria Magona, we run into Marco Balsimelli, Production Director, Ornellaia and Masseto.

Marco Balsimelli (Meininger's International)

Meininger's International: Ornellaia and Masseto's team has appointed Marco Balsimelli as the new Production Director. Born in 1983 in Italy, he studied Oenology in Florence and Bordeaux and later amassed experiences at Bordeaux Châteaux like Gruaud Larose. Since 2010, he has been working as a consulting oenologist at Laboratoires Boissenot, alongside Eric Boissenot. He has worked for renowned Grands Crus Classés from Bordeaux and also for wineries outside of France.

Balsimelli will be responsible for wine making as Production Director. He says about this role, “In a terroir with such potential, the task of the technical team is merely to allow nature to show its best side, and that is my goal.”

The managing director of both wineries, 78-year-old Giovanni Geddes, will retire at the end of the year. His position will be taken over by Fabrizio Dosi, who is already the General Manager of the entire Frescobaldi Group within the company. Following Oenologist Olga Fusari and Director Axel Heinz, who is returning to Bordeaux, Geddes is the third high-profile departure from the renowned Tuscan winery. However, with Dosi and Balsimelli, new forces have been found.

Ornellaia (wine-searcher)

Ornellaia is one of the foremost producers in the Bolgheri appellation on the coast of Tuscany. It is particularly known for making one of Italy's most famous and expensive wines, which shares the same name.

This Bordeaux-style blend is one of the original Super Tuscans. It is made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with smaller amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Grapes which do not make the cut for the top wine (primarily from the estate's younger vineyards) are redirected to Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia, the second wine of the estate. This usually has more Merlot, and less time in oak.

2015 brought a statement of confidence in the terroir's suitability for great white wine, with the release of the maiden (2013) vintage of Ornellaia Bianco. This is a blend with a majority of Sauvignon Blanc sourced from three small estate vineyards identified as producing particularly expressive fruit.

The Ornellaia portfolio also includes Le Volte dell'Ornellaia, which is based on Merlot, Poggio alla Gazze dell'Ornellaia, a Sauvignon Blanc-based white. Finally, Ornus dell'Ornellaia, a late-harvest Petit Manseng.

Vineyard and winemaking

The vineyard, which neighbors Sassacaia in Tuscany's coastal Maremma region, enjoys gentle sea breezes, which mitigate the summer heat, and is sheltered by neighboring hills from cold winter winds. The soils are a complex mix of alluvial, volcanic and marine elements, providing a good base for the Bordeaux varieties planted here.

After hand-picking and careful selection – firstly by bunch and secondly grape by grape – each variety and each vineyard block is vinified separately in stainless steel tanks. Ornellaia's flagship red wine is aged for around 18 months in oak, 70 percent of which is new.

Michel Rolland became the consultant winemaker in 1991. As of 2023 he and his associates still worked with the in-house winemaking team.

Ownership

The company was founded in 1981 by Marchese Lodovico Antinori, with the first vintage in 1985. From 2002 to 2005 the estate was co-owned by Robert Mondavi and Marchesi De Frescobaldi but, since 2005 Frescobaldi has owned it outright, along with the now separate estate Masseto.

Masseto (wine-searcher)

Masseto is a famed single-vineyard, Super Tuscan wine label produced from a site in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast, planted entirely to Merlot. It is one of the most famous Super Tuscan wines. The wine is known for its aromatic complexity, opulent fruit and tannic structure, and is consistently regarded as one of the top wines in the world with auction prices to match. It is classified as IGT Toscana.

Masseto was first released in 1984 to immediate acclaim. Today, production totals around 35,000 bottles a year and a second wine – Massetino – has been produced since 2017 from barrels that are not selected for the flagship wine.

The wine was initially made by Ornellaia but has operated as a distinct estate with its own winemaking facilities since 2006. Both properties were bought by the Frescobaldis the previous year.

Vineyard and winemaking

The 6.6-hectare (16.3-acre) site, a former clay quarry, was identified by famed American enologist André Tchelistcheff as having great potential for Merlot. This is due to its high content of compact clay, particularly in the central portion, with more pebble- and sand-based soils in the upper and lower portions.

The famous Bordeaux-based winemaker and consultant enologist Michel Rolland became consultant at the property on the death of Tchelistcheff in 1994.

The vineyard is managed in small plots and, despite its modest size, the harvest can take up to a month. The wines were initially produced in an old farmhouse although in 2019 a newly designed, underground winery was unveiled to the press.

Bunch selection takes place in the vineyard with further berry sorting after destemming, Masseto's fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks.

The base wines are then aged in medium-toast French oak barrels for about a year. After blending, the wine is aged for another year.

Florentine Steak - Dario Cecchini Selection - for Lunch at Osteria Magona in Bolgheri, Tuscany

See: Florentine Steak - Dario Cecchini Selection - for Lunch at Osteria Magona in Bolgheri, Tuscany - Wine Country Italy (Lake Como, Tuscany, Alto Adige) in 2025